In Russia, it is necessary to expand the capacity of pre-trial detention centers due to exceeding established limits in a number of regions. The corresponding provision is contained in a government decree on the development of the penal system.
According to the document, 11 new pre-trial detention centers designed for 11.23 thousand places are planned to be built nationwide, 14 detention blocks with a capacity of 3.42 thousand places are to be constructed, four detention blocks are to be renovated, and 118 auxiliary facilities in detention centers are to be created and modernized.
One of the new pre-trial detention centers is planned to be located on the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
The decree also states that the implementation period of the federal program "Development of the Penal System" has been extended until 2035, and its funding volume has been tripled—from 105 billion to 359.2 billion rubles. These measures, as noted in the document, will allow for the expansion of existing infrastructure and the construction of new detention centers.
The text indicates that between 2019 and 2024, the occupancy limits of pre-trial detention centers were exceeded in Ingushetia, Karelia, Tatarstan, Tuva, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, Moscow, Amur, Voronezh, Moscow, and Tambov Regions, as well as in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and annexed Crimea.
At the end of July, President Putin signed a law granting the FSB the right to establish its own pre-trial detention centers. According to the document, centrally subordinated pre-trial detention centers, previously under the structure of the Federal Penitentiary Service (subordinate to the Ministry of Justice), are also being returned to the FSB's jurisdiction. This includes, in particular, the Moscow detention centers SIZO-1 ("Matrosskaya Tishina") and SIZO-2 ("Lefortovo").